European Medical Physics News - ΙSSUE 01/2021 | SPRING Medical Physics research in Europe - EFOMP
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The European Federation of Organisations
for Medical Physics Bulletin
European Medical Physics News
ΙSSUE 01/2021 | SPRING
Medical Physics research in Europe
EFOMP NEWSLETTER
© EFOMP 2021
Contents
Editorial 3
Incoming President’s Editorial 5
Cantrijn: a new point of contact for EFOMP 8
EFOMP announcements mailing list Company Member article – Sun Nuclear: Stereotactic QA Arrays –
Resolution and Detector Spacing 10
The Third European Congress of Medical Physics (ECMP 2020) goes on-line 12
A Warm Welcome to the EFOMP Headquarters in the Netherlands 15
A Few Words from the New Editor-in-Chief of Physica Medica 16
Dr. Claudio Fiorino appointed as new Deputy Editor of Physica Medica 17
EFOMP website. Physica Medica – Announcement of New Managing Editor 18
Obituary of John Rowland Mallard 19
Obituary of Maria Kotzasarlidou 21
EDITORIAL BOARD
Company Member article – LAP: RadCalc Monte Carlo user experience 23
David Lurie, Aberdeen, UK (Editor-in-chief) EFOMP General Secretary report (November 2020 to February 2021) 25
Survey of anti COVID-19 Vaccination of Medical Physicists
Tomasz Piotrowski, Poznań, Poland in EFOMPmember countries 27
Emer Kenny, Dublin, Ireland Book Review: The CT Handbook by Timothy Szxzykutowicz 30
Company Member article – RTsafe: PseudoPatient® Technology –
Ivan Gencel, Vojvodina, Serbia A Personalized Treatment Verification in SRS 32
Physica Medica: Editor’s Choice 34
Paddy Gilligan, Dublin, Ireland
Editor’s Choice, EJMP Focus Issue: 125 years of X-Rays 36
Markus Buchgeister, Berlin, Germany The 2013/59/EURATOM Directive: from the “Magna Charta” to clinical practice 38
Company Member article – RaySearch: Case study at Leeds Cancer Centre – Deep
Carmel Caruana, Msida, Malta Learning Segmentation for Lung Delineation During
Breast Radiation Therapy 41
Efi Koutsouveli, Athens, Greece
ECR online 2021: A Wealth of Sessions Related to Physics in Medical Imaging 44
Jurgita Laurikaitiené, Kaunas, Lithuania IAEA Promotion of Recognition of Medical Physicists as Health Professionals 46
Report on the XIIIth National Physics and Biomedical Engineering Conference 47
Erato Stylianou Markidou, Nicosia, Cyprus Help! I have to teach online 48
Borislava Petrović, Vojvodina, Serbia Company Member article – PTW: The Dosimetry School – Furthering
and Exchanging Knowledge Worldwide 52
Jaroslav Ptáček, Olomouc, Czech Republic Research in Medical Physics: Basic CT and PET Physics Research at the DKFZ 55
Research in Medical Physics: ERC Consolidator grants: funding
Veronica Rossetti, Torino, Italy
for the next big step … in medical physics 58
Petter Wilke, Kristianstad, Sweden Research in Medical Physics: EFOMP Scientific Committee activities in 2020 60
Research in Medical Physics: Update on EFOMP’s Mentoring
in Research programme 62
Research in Medical Physics: The proton research beam line
of the Holland Proton Therapy Centre of Delft 63
Company Member article – Varian: Institute Verbeeten Puts Patient Safety
Front and Centre with IDENTIFY 65
Research in Medical Physics: Medical Radiation Physicists participate
in published research introducing change to Laplace’s law 67
Research in Medical Physics: Towards positronium imaging
with total=body PET from plastic scintillators 68
https://www.efomp.org/
Research in Medical Physics: EURAMED, the European Alliance for
Medical Radiation Protection Research 70
/company/efomp/ Research in Medical Physics: EFOMP Projects Committee reorganization,
activities, future 71
Company Member article – Accuray: The “Hype” of Hypofractionation 72
@EFOMP_org
Results of the 6th EFOMP Photo Contest 73
Medical Physicist’s Hobby: Singing – my favourite activity 75
/efompweb Medical Physicist’s Hobby: Wooden Photo Albums 76
The Aurora project – informing about medical technology through comic strips 77
Upcoming Conferences & Educational Activities 79
/EFOMP.org/ Structure of EFOMP 80
EFOMP Company Members 81
pubcommittee@efomp.org
2
Cover photograph shows PhD student Carlo Amato (left) and postdoctoral researcher Dr. Stefan Sawall
(right), standing next to the experimental CT gantry at DKFZ in Heidelberg; the gantry is equipped with
a micro focus x-ray source and a photon counting detector. See the article on page 55 of this issue.
SPRING 2021
Editorial
S
pring is a time of hope, as we see the snow Toma-Dasu and Deputy Editor, Claudio Fiorino. Our popu-
melting (in Athens as well as in more northern lar Medical Physicists’ Hobbies section contains an article
climes!) and the spring flowers appearing. The about wooden photo album design by a Serbian medical
pandemic still occupies every news bulletin and physicist and one about singing from a Maltese colleague.
dominates our home and work lives, but there are definite Following a break, you will also be pleased to hear that AU-
signs of hope there too, with infection numbers in decline RORA’s friendly lion cartoon character is back for another
in many areas and vaccines being steadily rolled out. But episode of his myth-busting exploits.
the proliferation of COVID-19 over the winter months has
taught us that we must be ever-cautious if we are to avoid Articles from EFOMP Company Members are always ap-
further waves of infection. So, while we are all hoping that preciated by our readership; in the Spring issue you can find
we will be able to meet in person some time in 2021, it is highly informative articles from seven Company Members.
looking like we may have to gather virtually for a few more
months. At the time of writing, it has just been decided that Last but certainly not least, in this issue we include the results
the ECMP 2020 conference will be held as an online-only of the 6th EFOMP Photo Contest, the theme of which was
event in June. But what an event it will be – with almost 750 “The Sky at Night”. I am sure you will agree that the winning
abstracts submitted and sessions covering all aspects of pictures are truly stellar examples of Medical Physicists’
medical physics, it promises to be the event of the year for creative endeavours! You are strongly encouraged to enter
European Medical Physics! the 7th EFOMP Photo Contest – details are in the article.
The theme of this issue of EMP News is Medical Physics I hope you will enjoy reading this issue of European
Research in Europe, and the newsletter contains eight Medical Physics News!
articles on this topic. These include reports of research
on topics as diverse as CT and PET technology, particle David Lurie and the Editorial Team
therapy and fluid mechanics. Also included are articles on (pubcommittee@efomp.org)
the activities of EFOMP’s Projects and Scientific commit- March 2021
tees, an overview of EURAMED and a guide to applying for
funding from ERC.
On a sad note, the newsletter contains two obituaries of
medical physicists who recently passed away: Dr. Maria
Kotzasarlidou who died at age 54 (a victim of COVID-19)
and Prof. John Mallard who passed away at the grand age
of 94. Both are greatly missed.
The Spring newsletter contains a number of regular fea-
tures, including a medical physics book review, and two
overviews of recent papers published in Physica Medica,
by the journal’s newly-appointed Editor-in-Chief, Iuliana
David Lurie holds a Chair in Biomedical Physics at the University of Aberdeen, UK, where he has researched and
taught MRI Physics since 1983. His research group works on the technology, methods and applications of low-field
MRI. Prof. Lurie was awarded the Academic Gold Medal of IPEM in 2017. He is Chair of the Communications and
Publications Committee of EFOMP.
3
EFOMP NEWSLETTER Communications and Publications Committee To contact the Committee, send an email to pubcommittee@efomp.org. David Lurie Tomasz Piotrowski Emer Kenny Ivan Gencel Paddy Gilligan UK Poland Ireland Serbia Ireland IPEM PSMP IAMP SAMP IAMP Chairperson Vice-Chair Ιnternet Manager Secretary EFOMP President EMP News editor EMP News editor EMP News editor EMP News editor EMP News editor Markus Carmel Efi Jurgita Erato Stylianou Buchgeister J. Caruana Koutsouveli Laurikaitiené Markidou Germany Malta Greece Lithuania Cyprus DGMP MAMP HAMP LMFBIA CAMPBE EMP News editor EMP News editor EMP News editor EMP News editor EMP News editor Borislava Petrović Jaroslav Ptáček Veronica Rossetti Petter Wilke Serbia Czech Republic Italy Sweden SAMP CAMP AIFM SSFF EMP News editor EMPNews editor EMP News editor EMP News editor 4
SPRING 2021
Incoming President’s Editorial
Paddy Gilligan became President of EFOMP in January 2021;
here he gives his first President’s message, in a piece based
on his recent EJMP article
2
020 was a challenging year for medical physicists in similar role for NVKF, the Dutch NMO. This move of offices
Europe. We had to deal with two seismic events, Brexit and bank accounts may lead to some short-term technical
and coronavirus, that were outside of our control and issues around administration and financial transactions; how-
that have had major effects on the future of our organ- ever, in terms of EFOMPs role in advancing medical physics in
isation and profession. As we approached the end of the year, Europe, “business as usual” will apply.
we had some good news on both fronts with a vaccination
programme in sight and an agreed trade deal. 2. Medical Physics response to the pandemic
December 2020 had both sad and hopeful moments. We were
2020 also saw the end of Marco Brambilla’s successful presi- saddened by the loss of our Hellenic Association of Medical
dency. The phrase “hard act to follow” immediately comes to Physics colleague Maria Kotzasarlidou, due to COVID. Dr.
mind. One can go back to the editorial written in 2018 [1] which Kotzasarlidou made a significant contribution to the education
shows that the ambitions have largely been achieved by Mar- of young medical physicists in the Nuclear Medicine field. On
co, and the dedication of the board, committees and council. the positive side, we were happy to see the tweeted images
This year I am humbled and honoured to assume the presi- of Italian NMO president Michele Stasi receiving the vaccine.
dency of a federation of 36 National Member Organisations The pandemic had a devastating effect on health services,
(NMOs) that is in good shape and has moved from strength patients and staff during the last year. Medical physicists in
to strength. Indeed, it is the strength of the organisation that Europe adapted to maintain existing services, treat patients
has helped us get through the challenges that we have faced. and rapidly develop new facilities in response to the pandem-
In the following paragraphs and Table 1 I will outline some ic. EFOMP assisted by sharing knowledge and experience
of the developments and ambitions that I would like to build through its online COVID forum [3]. It also provided lockdown
on as well as some of the necessary consequences of the lectures, webinars in collaboration with EUTEMPE and our
most extraordinary year that was 2020. Ursula van der Leyen first successful online ESMPE school on particle therapy.
highlighted the TS Eliot quote [2], which resonates in this The recording of these events on our educational platform
transitional period: has created a unique resource that points a way forward
for EFOMP. The success of the online information sharing is
“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to down to the volunteers who give their time and commitment.
make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where It is intended that EFOMP will assist in the provision of digital
we start from.” resources, such as access to webinar platforms for NMOs, to
maximise the benefit of our volunteers.
1. Move of the administration function to the Netherlands:
EFOMP celebrated forty years in 2020 from when Professor 3. ECMP 2020 and 2022
John Clifton inaugurated the federation in London. Britain vot- The pandemic led to the inevitable postponement of the Euro-
ed to leave the European Union in 2016. However, real change pean Congress of Medical Physics, (ECMP) 2020 till June 2021
in regulatory and other matters will only be experienced from and the moving online of all EFOMP face-to-face meetings. At
January 2021. For EFOMP, access to funding from the EU, the time of publication of this editorial in Physica Medica we
data protection and other regulations influenced our decision had hoped that due to the rapid development of coronavirus
to move our administrative headquarters to the Netherlands. vaccines that Torino could go ahead face to face in June 2021.
EFOMP operates a non-profit making company that is able However, safety must always be our priority. It now looks like
to receive and distribute funding to achieve the advancement the face to face congress we had hoped for cannot happen
of medical physics in Europe. For forty years, this company and the congress will take place online. You can rest assured
ran successfully in York in the UK. The immense contribution that the organising committee will work tirelessly to make a
of IPEM, the UK NMO, and Fiona McKeown to this success special online ECMP. The recent ECMP warm up webinar by
must be acknowledged. This move does not alter the status Federica Zanca, Leonard Wee and Mika Korteseniemi which
of the relationship with either the UK or Dutch NMOs, how- had over 500 attendees and the high numbers of abstracts
ever, the work in assisting the move by both organisations received augur well for the online event. The flexibility of the
is much appreciated. The new entity in the Netherlands will Spanish NMO in postponing their annual congress to facilitate
be administered by the company Cantrijn, which performs a ECMP has been acknowledged by EFOMP.
5
EFOMP NEWSLETTER
Prior to my role as Vice President of EFOMP I had chaired the and physiological monitoring. The recent publication of the
bid for ECMP 2022, which was successful for Dublin against updated statement on the role of the physicist in MRI shows
strong competition. It is planned to go ahead with the ECMP how patient experience may be benefitted and can help make
in Dublin 2022 as a blended event. The ambition of the outgo- business cases for medical physicists in new roles. The desire
ing president to exceed one thousand registrants should be to use scientific expertise in new ways is something that we
achievable and we will do whatever we can, particularly for are all passionate about. EFOMP will continue to drive the
young medical physicists from all 36 countries of EFOMP, to visibility of the physicist in bringing patient benefits.
facilitate their participation.
The directive underpins the requirement for future medical
The willingness of NMOs to put in so much effort in compet- physics expertise. The recent issues of European Medical
ing to host such events, schools, administrative functions is Physics News [3] highlight the very strong role of early-career
a bedrock of the federation. Although not everyone can be medical physicists within our NMOs. During my presidency, I
successful for each event, the experience gained in compiling hope that we can increase EFOMP’s relevance to these young
such bids will ensure that future bids can be successful for physicists who are the future of medical physics and that we
such events and increase the quality of the congress. can set up structures and communication channels to consol-
idate their involvement.
4. What to expect during the next Presidency
EFOMP is an organisation with clear ambitions and structures 6. New challenges
[3]. NMOs are the essential elements of the federation. The The recent pandemic showed how quickly medical physicists
committees carry out the essential work of the federation. could adapt their science to face new challenges. There are
The new Individual Associate Membership category reflects some new important areas that are being developed and that
the increasing capability of EFOMP to deliver its aims of will figure strongly over the term of the next presidency. Some
communication, integration and education through its digital current themes are the increasing availability of particle therapy,
platform. It also helps us to create access in countries where flash therapy, dosimetry in nuclear medicine therapy, assess-
NMOs are not yet established. Although this is my first time ment of image quality for optimisation in CT and mammography.
as part of the board of EFOMP, there is a wealth of dedicated These are only parts of a long list. The need for expertise in these
experience surrounding me on the board thanks to these new technologies underpins the important role of research in
structures. However, our future is only as good as the next medical physics in Europe. EFOMP plays a vital role in many
volunteer or participant who is nominated by the NMOs. European consortia through its Projects and European com-
When possible, I will continue the previous policy of visiting mittees. I hope that in the next few years our visibility will be
NMOs for leadership meetings face-to-face or online at local enhanced even further, through these bodies and the medical
and regional meetings. industry representative bodies such as COCIR. The contribution
of artificial intelligence (AI) in medical physics is something
The recent creation of a special interest group for dosimetry that needs to be planned and trained for with clearly defined
in therapeutic nuclear medicine allows for development of roles. The Working Group (WG) structure in EFOMP provides a
special medical physics centred activity groups that can be mechanism for delivering the best expertise in these areas and
accommodated using existing structures and that have an the enthusiasm for participation is welcome. The joint ESTRO
appropriate home in EFOMP. EFOMP WG on the core curriculum (CC) in Radiotherapy points
to the role that EFOMP plays as the voice of medical physicists
5. Professional development in Europe and how the medical physics voice is strengthened by
EFOMP under the guidance of the professional matters our collective identity as EFOMP. Similar updates are required
committee has recognised four national registration schemes for Nuclear Medicine and Radiology CCs. The interactions with
(NRS) to date. It should be possible that the majority of NRS other organisations as defined by our memoranda of under-
can be accredited by the end of the current presidency; this standing should be collaborative and complimentary, created by
would increase the mobility of physicists in our community. a strong EFOMP identity which articulates the role of the medical
When travel is permitted, the restoration and expansion of physicist in the hospital, university, research or industry setting.
exchange programmes and mentorship is something to look
forward to. The European Examination Board (EEB) will assist The WGs have been producing quality control protocols and
in setting standards for mobility and harmonisation. guidance. One of my themes will be the relevance of EFOMP
in medical physicists’ everyday activities. The use of common
Although the European Board for Accreditation in Medical software tools in combination with these protocols is some-
Physics (EBAMP) is independent from EFOMP, a mechanism thing that will increase their relevance further.
for European accreditation of academic elements of the NRS
is something I would also like to see. The development of digital communication tools by the Com-
munications and Publications committee over the last number
In different countries medical physicists assume different roles of years has been impressive. The development of the educa-
outside of EU directive 13/59 [4]. For example, in the Nether- tional platform is also very impressive. Although face-to-face
lands they are involved in invasive and non-invasive therapies teaching is preferred, in many cases it is not always possible.
6
SPRING 2021
Throughout the pandemic, EFOMP showed that significant edu- Medical Physics after eight years. Since 2017 the impact fac-
cation can be imparted through the use of these platforms. With tor has increased from 1.99 to 2.5 indicating the strong voice,
this in mind the Education and Training committee will see how we the research contribution and identity for medical physics in
can enhance the use of these resources in a sustainable manner. Europe. We welcome the new editor Iuliana Toma-Dasu. It is
my hope that through the use of digital media with the help of
It is also time to acknowledge the contribution of Paolo Russo Elsevier we can boost the impact factor even further.
who finishes as editor in chief of the European Journal of
Area
• Increased online access and content on EFOMP education platform.
Education • Liaison with EBAMP and EEB to look at accreditation of MSc and PhD programmes.
Continuation and development of ESMPE school editions.
• Increased relevance of EFOMP in day-to-day medical physics activities through WG.
• Increased participation of young and early career physicists in EFOMP structures and a voice for their future,
reflecting inclusion and diversity.
• Enabling tools such as science writing, ethics, mentorship in research.
Identity • Development of medical physics profile activities and volunteerism in non-ionising physics:
MRI, ultrasound, laser, AI.
• Increased EFOMP accreditation of National Registration Schemes
• Look at potential to provide software resources, procurement, risk assessment tools and spread through EFOMP.
• Double number of IAMs.
• Create a European medical physics mailing list, for information and regulation distribution.
European Congress • Increased participation through online communication.
of Medical Physics • Increased profile and support from vendors to facilitate further resources for NMOs.
Table 1. Areas of interest for the current presidency
Finally, I would like to quote a phrase from the Irish lan- “Ni neart go chur le cheile”
guage which resonates with the role of EFOMP for medical There is no strength compared to working together.
physics in Europe:
References
[1] Brambilla M. Editorial: New President of the Eu- [3] EFOMP website https://www.efomp.org/
ropean Federation of Organizations for Medical
Physics, 2018;45:207-209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. [4] European Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom on basic
ejmp.2018.01.002. safety standards for protection against the dangers arising
from exposure to ionising radiation and repealing Directives
[2] Remarks by President Ursula von der Leyen at the 89/618/Euratom, 90/641/Euratom, 96/29/Euratom, 97/43/Eur-
press conference on the outcome of the EU-UK negotia- atom and 2003/122/Euratom. OJ of the EU. L13;2014, 57: 1–73.
tions https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/
en/SPEECH_20_2534
Paddy Gilligan, President of EFOMP
This article is based on an article that was published in Physica Medica (February 2021) as P. Gilligan,
“Incoming President’s editorial”, Phys. Med. 82: 25-27 (Copyright Elesevier), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
ejmp.2021.01.002. It is reproduced here with permission.
7
EFOMP NEWSLETTER
EFOMP SECTION
Cantrijn: a new point
of contact for EFOMP
As a result of Brexit, EFOMP’s administrative headquarters
has moved from the UK and is now based in Utrecht in The
Netherlands, within the capable hands of Cantrijn
Cantrijn is one of the iconic organisations in the Nether- managers and executives are able to focus on professional
lands dedicated to the professional support of associa- issues and subject-related contacts. After all, that is what
tions. Among the dozens of clients belong associations, they are good at. Cantrijn takes care of this, on a contin-
(professional and branch organisations), foundations, uous flexible base, by supporting all occurring and often
project organisations, network organisations, domes and time-consuming organizational activities, as well as stra-
platforms. These associations are active in several sectors, tegical, tactical as operational. Often Cantrijn organizes
from health care, construction, industries to professional the entire office organisation, but if desired, partial support
and social services, IT and charities. can be offered as well.
The clients of Cantrijn are mainly recognized by the ab-
sence (or limited presence) of an own support organisation.
Cantrijn shapes and gives content to this support, so that The Domus Medica building,
where Cantrijn is based
8
SPRING 2021
The different skills of 35 professionals are combined by established, founded on Dutch law. During 2021 all EFOMP
Cantrijn from two establishments in the centre of the country UK activities will be transferred to EFOMP NL and EFOMP
(Gorinchem/Utrecht). In Utrecht, Cantrijn has an establish- UK will be dismantled. Cantrijn has been allowed to super-
ment at Domus Medica, which is the central building (see vise this whole process in cooperation with lawyers and tax
the photo), where all important medical Dutch associations specialists from the Netherlands, as well as from the UK.
are united. Together, the colleagues provide secretarial,
financial, administrative, communicative and quality sup- Cantrijn is proud to have accomplished this and to support
port. Cantrijn has been supporting the Dutch Association the financial administration from now on. The contact for
for Clinical Physics (NVKF), member of EFOMP, since 2007. financial/administrative support is Romy Steegwijk and the
Because of that connection, EFOMP enlisted the support contact for office support is Lotte van Vliet. Cantrijn stands
of Cantrijn by establishing a new European federation, for continuity, so Romy and Lotte are supported by other
based in the Netherlands. A one-to-one relocation of the colleagues.
existing organisation from the UK to the Netherlands was
not possible; therefore, a whole new federation had to be Cantrijn looks forward to a pleasant cooperation!
Key contacts
at Cantrijn
Edward van der Meijden Romy Steegwijk Lotte van Vliet
9
EFOMP NEWSLETTER
EFOMP COMPANY MEMBER ARTICLE
Sun Nuclear: Stereotactic QA Arrays –
Resolution and Detector Spacing
With the increased popularity of linac-based stereotactic
treatments over the recent years, the need for dedicated
patient-specific quality assurance (QA) equipment is also
increasing. Among the key distinguishing characteristics of
such equipment are high spatial resolution and sampling
frequency of the detector array.
The resolution is dictated by the active volume of the de-
tector, or to be more precise, by its point spread function.
The width of the point spread function decreases with in-
creasing density of the detector medium, giving solid-state
detectors an advantage over their air- or liquid-filled coun-
terparts. In fact, for diode detectors, the width of their point
spread function is typically smaller than their physical size.
The sampling frequency of a QA array is represented by
the detector spacing and is related to, but distinct from
the detector resolution. As stated by the Nyquist-Shannon
sampling theorem, a distribution can be fully sampled if
the sampling frequency is twice the highest frequency Figure 1. a) 2D dose distribution for a spine SBRT delivery. The dose was
occurring in that distribution. Therefore, the question of measured via film dosimetry (0.35 x 0.35 mm2 pixel size). b) Frequency
adequate detector spacing can be answered by evaluat- spectrum along the Y-axis of the 2D Fourier transform of (a). The arrow
ing typical stereotactic dose distributions in the frequency shows the maximum frequency sampled by SRS MapCHECK. c) Distri-
domain and comparing their frequency spectra against bution of gamma values for 1%/0.5 mm gamma comparison of filtered
the sampling frequency of a QA array. If the sampling and original dose distributions. d) Y-axis profile through the original (or-
frequency is lower than twice the maximum frequency in ange line) and filtered (blue dots) dose distributions. Larger blue circles
the dose distribution, the effects can be approximated by correspond to SRS MapCHECK detector positions.
applying an anti-aliasing low-pass filter, i.e., discarding
the higher-frequency components of the distribution. the original dose distribution. The results of these opera-
tions are shown in Figure 1(c) and (d). 2D gamma analysis
Figure 1 shows an example of such estimate for the Sun was used to compare the filtered and original dose dis-
Nuclear SRS MapCHECK (2.5 mm detector spacing, 0.47 tributions with 1% and 0.5 mm dose difference and dis-
mm2 active detector area). The figure shows a dose distri- tance-to-agreement criteria, respectively, and yielded the
bution for a spine SBRT treatment. The frequency spec- passing rate of 100%. This example illustrates that SRS
trum (Fig. 1(b)) corresponds to a profile taken along the MapCHECK’s 2.5 mm detector spacing is sufficient to ad-
y-axis (through the isocentre and perpendicular to the equately sample typical stereotactic dose distributions.
plane of gantry rotation). This is the direction of the highest
dose gradient and thus represents the upper limit of the
frequencies found in this distribution. Lena Tirpak, Ph.D.
Lena Tirpak is a Product Physicist at Sun Nuclear,
SRS MapCHECK’s detector spacing of 2.5 mm allows to the leader in quality assurance solutions for radia-
sample frequencies up to 0.2 mm-1, or 1/(2*2.5mm). The tion therapy and diagnostic imaging. Lena supports
impact of not sampling the small contributions of frequen- product research and development and played a
cies exceeding this limit can be visualized by applying a key role in the development of the SRS MapCHECK
low-pass filter, converting the 2D frequency spectrum system. She holds a doctorate in solid-state phys-
(not shown) back to spatial domain, and comparing it to ics and a master’s degree in medical physics.
10SPRING 2021
11EFOMP NEWSLETTER Update: The Third European Congress of Medical Physics – ECMP 2020 – goes on-line! ECMP President Mika Kortesniemi and EFOMP President Paddy Gilligan write about the upcoming virtual ECMP conference, taking place on-line 16th-19th June, providing a medical physics highlight of 2021 The year 2021 began with anticipation of light at the end with optimisation of our programme into on-line format, of the tunnel, as we all have experienced the pandemic with a robust virtual technical platform. Most important- during the past year. Now, we face the third wave of COV- ly, we will cover entirely our planned scientific, edu- ID hitting many European countries. Despite these con- cational and professional programme which will now tinuous challenges we will not give up. We look forward serve an even larger medical physicist community, and provide another means to come together as a com- without borders. Thus, we hope to bring continuation munity. The current situation of the pandemic prevents and clarity into our medical physics community during us from organising the ECMP face to face, as medical these demanding times. The conference motto has now physicists’ health and safety is our first priority. There- depth which was not anticipated, but it is as topical as it fore, we have made a decision to change the ECMP can be – embracing change, sharing knowledge. We need to an on-line congress. Now, we are moving fast forward that, as individual professionals and as a community. 12
SPRING 2021
As ECMP organisers, we are happy to see the enduring in- accepted for ECMP will be published in a special issue of
terest and dedication of European medical physicists which Physica Medica.
is also shown in the number of abstract submissions – alto-
gether 750 in total! These studies are the forefront of the on- You can find further information on the congress web page
line ECMP scientific content. The abstracts cover all eight (www.ecmp2020.org) and the EFOMP web page (www.
main topic areas: radiotherapy, diagnostic and therapeutic efomp.org) as well as social media (LinkedIn, Facebook,
nuclear medicine, diagnostic and interventional radiology, Twitter, Instagram) for constant updates.
radiation protection and dosimetry, biomedical engineer-
ing, informatics, professional issues and finally, education The Congress Planning Committee and local organisers
and training. The review of the abstracts is in progress by remain firmly committed to the success of our on-line
our scientific committee, which will give the basis to finalise ECMP. Our focus is to serve the European community
the on-line scientific programme with on-demand oral and of Medical Physics to come together – now virtually, and
e-poster presentations. in future again also in person. We are looking forward to
meeting you on-line in June!
We are pleased to be able to offer reduced participation
fees for the on-line congress: Best wishes,
Mika Kortesniemi,
• Standard participants €100 President of ECMP 2020
• Students / low income country participants €60
• Industry participants €200 Paddy Gilligan,
President of EFOMP
These updated fees apply throughout the registration time,
without an early registration deadline. Embracing change, sharing knowledge.
Congress secretariat Symposium will be in contact with
all registered participants, abstract authors and speakers
with additional information. All presenters will get clear in- Dr Mika Kortesniemi works as the Chief
structions for live and pre-recorded lectures. Physicist and Adjunct Professor in the
HUS Medical Imaging Center, University
Preparation of ECMP happens on many levels. One impor- of Helsinki, Finland. His professional fo-
tant precursory activity is the organization of two warm- cus is on the quality assurance, dosime-
up webinars while approaching the on-line ECMP. The try, optimisation and radiation protection
first warm-up webinar was already broadcast on-line on in x-ray modalities, especially the evolving
28th of January with the title “AI in Medical Physics”. The CT technology. The research work is pri-
topic was chosen to address what we may see today as marily related on radiological optimisation, utilizing anthropomorphic
one of the most prominent gamechangers in our field. This phantoms and Monte Carlo simulations. Dr Kortesniemi is the past
first webinar approached AI from two perspectives: on its chair of EFOMP Science Committee. In addition to his primary posi-
professional impact and by looking at the combination of tion in HUS Medical Imaging Center, Dr Kortesniemi is also involved
Big Data and AI on enabling predictions of clinical out- in IAEA, ICRP and ESR collaboration, and quality audits in radiology.
come. The webinar turned out to be great success with
fully booked participation and highly positive feedback. Paddy Gilligan works as chief physicist
In order to respond to the interest on the webinar which in the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin
grew much higher than the technical platform could allow, Ireland. He has over thirty years’ expe-
the webinar recording was also made available through rience in diagnostic imaging, He has
the EFOMP e-learning platform for almost 1,000 original- served on state boards for regulatory ra-
ly registered participants and other Individual Associate diation protection agencies. He became
Members. This Spring, we will present another warm-up associate professor in University College
webinar on a radiotherapy topic. More information about Dublin in 2017. He was the chair of the
this second webinar will be given later through our social European congress of radiology physics programme in 2019. Prior
media channels – stay tuned for it! to becoming President of EFOMP he chaired the successful bid for
ECMP 2022 for Dublin. He is a trustee of the Robert Boyle Foundation.
We would like to remind you that Physica Medica – Eu-
ropean Journal of Medical Physics (EJMP), will publish a
focus issue containing up to 50 selected papers from con-
tributions (oral or poster) from ECMP. The papers will be
selected by the guest editors and the new editor-in-chief
Prof. Iuliana Toma-Dasu on the basis of the high scientif-
ic quality of the presentations. Furthermore, all abstracts
13EFOMP NEWSLETTER
3rd European Congress
of Medical Physics
torino organized by
2021
2020
hosted by
Embracing Change, Sharing Knowledge
mark the dates!
June 16-19, 2021
ECMP goes virtual!
Different way, same goal: creating a great event
• Watch live sessions from a place that suits you
• Watch on-demand sessions whenever you like
• View e-poster presentations
• Visit virtual booths and interact with exhibitors
• Join live debate and chats to engage with experts
and participants from all over the world
• Join virtual networking events
Updated early registration fees (until May 15, 2021* ):
• Full registration fee: € 100,00
• Student/low-income countries attendees’ fee: € 60,00
* Accepted authors’ registration deadline for inclusion in the programme: April 15, 2021
ECMP: enjoy the same great scientific programme
in an exciting, sustainable, safe and easy-to-use way
More info & news on the congress website: www.ecmp2020.org
14
ECMP 2020 welcomesSPRING 2021
NMO ARTICLE
A Warm Welcome to the EFOMP
Headquarters in the Netherlands!
Jeroen van de Kamer and Gerard Colenbrander from Dutch NMO NVKF welcome EFOMP’s
headquarters to its new home in their country
Recently, EFOMP’s General Council rently, it has over 600 members of
decided to move the EFOMP Head- which 450 are registered MPEs and
quarters from York, UK, to Utrecht in 80 MPE residents. MPEs in Dutch
the Netherlands. Hereby, the Dutch are called “klinisch fysici”, which
NMO (NVKF) warmly welcomes the literally translates to “clinical physi-
EFOMP office. It is good to see the cists” and shows their close relation
EFOMP organization being facilitated to primary health care. The Dutch
by Cantrijn Service Agency, which MPEs are working in 80 hospitals of
supports NVKF as well for already which 8 are University Medical Cen-
a number of years. An introduction tres. They are working in the fields
of the Cantrijn Group is given else- Courtesy by Arie van ‘t Riet, MPE of Radiotherapy, Medical Imaging
where in this issue of EMP News. (Nuclear Medicine and Radiology),
The Netherlands are a small but densely Hospital Physics (OR, ICU, etc.) and
NVKF wishes, at the beginning of populated (over 17 million citizens) coun- Clinical Audiology. NVKF is a full and
2021, that EFOMP office services may try of which about half of the land is be- well-respected member of the Dutch
continue in the way they were support- neath sea level. That’s even before global Federation of Medical Specialists.
ed by IPEM the last 40 years. A pro- warming! Although famous for its tulips,
fessional support guarantees a stable canals and wooden shoes, the Neth- This big welcome to EFOMP ends with
EFOMP organization which is capable erlands has more to offer. The country a wish. The NVKF wishes EFOMP a
to carry out its ambitious agenda. has a good infrastructure including one prosperous future, well founded in the
of Europe’s main hubs, Schiphol Air- Dutch clay and hopes it may prosper in
port. The official language is Dutch, but this fertile soil. With more than enough
English has penetrated Dutch society rainy days, conditions for growth are
thanks to TV, pop culture and many im- excellent. And, of course, NVKF will
migrants. The city of Utrecht dates from be at EFOMP’s service when needed.
50 AD and is on a crossroads between
European cities, e.g., no more than 2½
In the meantime, we express our hope hours from Brussels by train or car. This
that CoVID-19 will be on its way out may very well help in intensifying EFO-
in 2021 as a result of the large vac- MP’s contacts with the European Union.
cination campaign, and we can meet
each other in good health, in June The Dutch medical physics society,
2021 at the ECMP in Torino, Italy. NVKF, was founded in 1973. Cur-
Jeroen van de Kamer is a Med- Gerard Colenbrander is a
ical Physics Expert (MPE), spe- Medical physicist (MPE) in two
cialized in PET imaging for radia- general hospitals in Leiden and
tion oncology and head and neck Haarlem. At the moment he is
oncology. He works at the Neth- secretary of the NVKF commit-
erlands Cancer Institute (NKI) in tee on European Affairs. He is a
Amsterdam, the Netherlands. member of a national auditing
Jeroen is board member of the committee and developed in
Dutch NMO, the Society for Med- close cooperation with the Na-
ical Physics of the Netherlands tional Federation of Physicians
(NVKF), and he chairs the NVKF (FMS) a guideline for introducing
committee on European Affairs. new technologies in hospitals.
15EFOMP NEWSLETTER
A Few Words from the New Editor-
in-Chief of Physica Medica
On 1st January 2021 I stepped in as the new Editor-in-Chief Indeed, the EFOMP newsletter would probably be a very
of Physica Medica – European Journal of Medical Physics good forum to bring up the need to make visible the exciting
(EJMP). The first words that would come to my mind at scientific ideas and results and the technical innovations
the end of this month are Responsibility and Dedication, published in Physica Medica to our colleagues with dif-
with capital letters – the huge responsibility to serve the ferent specialities and to attract their contributions to this
medical physics community and the dedication to carry very complex field. There are subjects in medical physics
on the work done by my predecessors – as they would that are narrowly regarded as being the exclusive territory
describe the closest my state of mind and spirit at the of physicists, but there are also research and development
end of this first month as Editor-in-Chief. areas lead by medical physicists or where medical phys-
icists have key roles that are at the crossroad of various
Physica Medica has seen a fantastic growth during the disciplines. The intrinsic core of the profession of a medical
last decade in terms of high quality submissions that led physicist involves integrated work within the clinical team
to the increase of the number of issues per year from made of medical doctors, nurses, technologists and engi-
quarterly to monthly. This sheer increase in the number neers, as well as radiation protection experts. Furthermore,
of published papers was accompanied by an overall on the research side, the collaboration between physicists,
increase in the recognition of the quality of the publi- biologists and radiation oncologists has been notoriously
cations as reflected by the Impact Factor, which almost prolific, several of the major breakthroughs in radiothera-
doubled in the past ten years. All these achievements are py, for example, owing their discoveries and subsequent
obviously the result of the sustained hard work done by developments to this interdisciplinary cooperation.
the Editorial team with the support of the Publisher, the
reviewers and, of course, the authors. And who are the In the spirit of fostering this multidisciplinary collabora-
authors that choose to publish in Physica Medica and the tion in order to gain synergistic results, we should aim
reviewers that generously put their time and experience at making Physica Medica visible and attractive to our
in the service of our Journal? Those that we are proud colleagues from outside the medical physics community.
to serve – the members of the European Federation of The Editorial team will do the best to invite review articles
Organisations for Medical Physics, as well as their col- of interest across disciplines and to publish manuscripts
leagues and collaborators from the rest of Europe and that are within the scope of the Journal but not strictly
the rest of the world since Physica Medica has seen an addressed to the medical physicists, but also to the other
unprecedented increase in submissions and publications professional categories. It is, however, up to all the EFOMP
from all around the globe. We can therefore say that we members to help along this effort and I would therefore like
have managed to reach far, but the work is not done, we to use this short article as an opportunity to invite you all
should now strive to reach not only towards the physicists to share the papers published in Physica Medica with your
but also towards their colleagues and collaborators with colleagues and to promote the journal outside our com-
other specialities and from other professional categories. munity in order to gain the most from this combined effort.
Iuliana Toma-Dasu, Stockholm University and Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Iuliana Toma-Dasu is Professor in Medical Radiation Physics and the Head of Medical Radiation Physics Division
at the Department of Physics at Stockholm University and the Medical Radiation Physics Group Research Leader,
Department of Oncology and Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Since 1st January 2021 she has
been the Editor-in-Chief of Physica Medica – European Journal of Medical Physics.
16SPRING 2021
EJMP ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Claudio Fiorino
appointed as new Deputy
Editor of Physica Medica Dr CLAUDIO FIORINO
(EJMP) • MSc in Physics and graduation in
Medical Physics, Statale University
Milano
• Senior Medical Physicist at San
Raffaele Scientific Institute, PI of
many research projects funded by
National and International funding
agencies
• University national certification for
Professorship (Applied Physics)
• Teacher at the Vita-Salute San
Raffaele University, Milano and at
the Medical Physics post-graduate
School, Statale University, Milano.
Member of the Faculty of the ESTRO
European school of radiotherapy
• Past member of the ESTRO Physics
Committee and of the ESTRO Board
of Directors. Member of the steering
Committee of the E2Radiate ES-
TRO-EORTC joint initiative
• Associate Editor of EJMP since 2014
(and Board member since 2002)
• Board member and Editor of other
relevant journals in the field of ra-
EFOMP, AIFM and the whole Editorial EJMP also provides an international diotherapy and oncology. Author of
team of Physica Medica – European forum for publication on topics of Ed- more than 230 full papers with more
Journal of Medical Physics (EJMP), ucation and training and Professional than 5500 citations
are delighted to announce that Clau- issues in Medical Physics.
dio Fiorino is the new Deputy Editor of His main interest covers:
the journal. We extend our welcome to Claudio in
his new role. Predictive models of toxicity and
EJMP is devoted to serving the Eu- outcome in Radiotherapy; Planning op-
ropean and International community Paddy Gilligan, President of EFOMP timization including knowledge-based
of medical physicists by publishing Michele Stasi, President of AIFM approaches and automatic planning;
rigorously peer-reviewed, timely and Image guidance, SBRT and Adaptive
innovative research articles in Medi- radiotherapy; clinical (and pre-clinical)
cal Physics. Radiobiology; quantitative imaging;
Radiomics and machine learning in
radiology and oncology; Sinergy be-
tween scientific and professional roles
in Medical Physics, with the activation
(and coordination up to 2020) of the
FutuRuS (AIFM) and of the ESTRO_Fu-
ture (ESTRO) Task groups
17EFOMP NEWSLETTER
EJMP ANNOUNCEMENTS
Physica Medica (EJMP) – Announce-
ment of New Managing Editor
The Editorial team at EFOMP’s scientific journal has recently
been joined by a new member of the team, Dr. Marta Lazzeroni,
who is introduced here
high quality 11C beams for radiation Stockholm University representative
treatment and accurate PET-CT in the academic centre of excellence
dose delivery verification” under for radiation science (Swedish Aca-
Prof. Anders Brahme’s supervision. demic Initiative for Nuclear Technolo-
After her PhD, she was employed gy, SAINT).
as a post-doctoral researcher at the
Karolinska Institute in Prof. Iuliana Her research interests cover: light ion
Toma-Dasu’s group. During the Post- therapy with positron emitter beams,
Doc years, her research interests dose delivery verification in particle
expanded towards radiotherapy with therapy, biologically optimised adap-
photons and gained a more clinically tive radiotherapy, and mathematical
oriented perspective. She worked modelling of tumour infiltration.
on treatment planning adaptation
and individualization based on the Starting in January 2021, she now
early assessment of tumour re- serves has EJMP Managing Editor. In
sponsiveness to treatment through this role she works in close collabora-
repeated PET images. The research tion with the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Iuli-
Marta Lazzeroni is Associate Profes- was conducted within the European ana Toma-Dasu, to ensure to EJMP
sor in Medical Radiation Physics at project ARTFORCE (Adaptive and contributors and readership a timely
the Department of Physics, Stock- innovative Radiation Treatment FOR and rigorously peer-reviewed publica-
holm University (Sweden). improving Cancer patients’ treat- tion process. She supervises the daily
ment outcomE). In parallel with her activities connected with the whole
Marta was born in Italy and studied postdoctoral studies, she followed review process. Her tasks include as-
at the University of Pisa, where she the MSc programme in Medical signing the submitted manuscripts to
obtained a BSc degree in Physics Radiation Physics at Stockholm Uni- the Associate Editors, enforcing dead-
(2005) and an MSc degree in Applied versity and in 2015 she was granted lines and keeping the communication
Physics, curriculum Medical Physics the MSc degree and the licence as with reviewers, authors and Associate
(2008). Her MSc project related with Medical Physicist by the Swedish Editors. She is dedicated to maintain-
the development of a SPECT proto- National Board of Health and Welfare. ing the high quality standards and
type for breast cancer imaging and contributing to the growth of EJMP.
was conducted under the supervision Since 2013, she has been deeply in-
of Prof. Alberto Del Guerra (former volved in teaching on different courses She will also ensure through the
president of EFOMP and honorary for undergraduate and graduate stu- network of young and enthusiastic
editor of Physica Medica – European dents having different backgrounds. medical physicists and researchers
Journal of Medical Physics). In 2009, She has been working as Senior that she established during her col-
she moved to Sweden to pursue her Lecturer in Medical Radiation Phys- laborations that EJMP will involve
scientific career at the Karolinska In- ics since 2017, being main lecturer, high profile junior members in its
stitute as a Marie Curie PhD student coordinator and examiner for various editorial activities. The EJMP can gain
within the PARTNER (Particle Training courses. She has been supervisor of from their enthusiasm, at the same
Network for European Radiotherapy) several students at BSc, MSc, PhD time offering them educational and
project within the ENLIGHT (The Eu- level and part of many examination career-enhancing opportunities.
ropean Network for LIGht ion Hadron committees in tertiary education. In
Therapy) collaboration. In 2013, she 2021, she was appointed Associate EJMP and EFOMP welcome Marta to
defended her PhD thesis in Medical Professor at the Physics Department the team!
Sciences, entitled “Production of at Stockholm University. She is the
18SPRING 2021
OBITUARY
John Rowland Mallard (14/1/1927 - 25/2/2021)
Medical Physics pioneer and visionary, Professor John Mallard,
has passed away at the age of 94
And your young men shall have visions
And your old men, dream dreams
Acts 2:17
apy led him to his first appointment as As- (ESR) could differentiate between normal
sistant Physicist at the Liverpool Radium and malignant tissue. His two earliest
Institute in 1951. But this was where his appointments to posts in the new depart-
involvement in imaging also started. He ment were Jim Hutchison and Meg Foster
used hand-held radiation detectors to map (later Meg Hutchison). Jim had expertise
the distribution of 131I in the thyroid gland. in magnetic resonance and Meg was a
biologist. John’s vision was to explore the
He moved to the Hammersmith Hospital potential of ESR as a new medical imaging
and Postgraduate Medical School in 1953 modality. At the same time, he had another
to set up an NHS radioisotope laboratory, group looking at microwave imaging. Nei-
becoming Head of the Physics Depart- ther approach proved feasible at the time
ment in 1957. There he built a rectilinear but, when in 1971 Damadian in the States
scanner to automatically build up a pic- demonstrated with there was a difference
If I was asked to sum up John Mallard in ture of the distribution of a radiopharma- in NMR signals between different tissues,
two words they would be “determined ceutical in the body. This used a moving Aberdeen was in a position to exploit this.
visionary”. bed and a tapper mechanism to print out
a colour coded image on a sheet of paper. Not only did they confirm Damadian’s
John was brought up in the English town This was the first whole body scanner in findings but, following work done by
of Northampton where his father was a the world and with it he pioneered clinical Lauterbur, they constructed a small
grocer. When I asked John what had in- in vivo radioisotope scanning of the brain, NMR imager and produced the first
spired him to make his career in medical liver, spleen, kidneys and joints. The MRC image of a mouse in March 1974. This
imaging, he told me that it was the bacon cyclotron unit was nearby. At that time clearly demonstrated that the technique
slicer in his father’s shop! He recounted the cyclotron was being used for trials of could produce images showing body
using the machine, in which you pulled neutron therapy, but it could also produce structure but, as it required an hour to
down a handle and it cut a slice off a joint radioisotopes. Using a pair of scintillation produce an image, the mouse had first
of bacon, and then stacking up the slices detectors, John showed how positron to be killed – somewhat of a problem if
to reform the joint. Why, he thought, could emitting isotopes of arsenic could be the technique was to be used clinically.
you not produce images of thin slices of used to image brain tumours.
the body to facilitate diagnosis, what At this point John took a decision that
we now know as tomographic imaging. After a brief spell at Guy’s Hospital, in 19 65 was to have profound consequences for
he applied for the newly created chair in MRI. Rather than continue an incremen-
John took a degree in physics at Notting- medical physics at Aberdeen University. tal approach building bigger and bigger
ham which, at that time, was a college of His wife, Fiona, whom he met in London, imagers, the Aberdeen group would
the University of London, and then went came from Aberdeen and so he knew the build one capable of whole-body human
on to take his doctorate on “The magnetic city although he claimed that she was not images. This is where his determination
properties of uranium and uranium-iron very enthusiastic about moving back! and vision really showed themselves.
alloys”. An interesting choice given his He arrived in Aberdeen together with his
later career! His move from academia rectilinear scanner, which formed an im- It took 18 months but eventually the
into medical physics was, in part, due to portant part of the nuclear medicine ser- Medical Research Council awarded him
his poor hearing, being very deaf from vice for many years, allowing imaging over a grant of £30,000 to build the machine,
an early age. He was told by his adviser larger areas of the body than with the early although some of the grant’s referees
at Nottingham that this would be a great gamma cameras. But John’s vision was later admitted that they were very scep-
disadvantage for him as a lecturer and he broader than just nuclear medicine. He tical about the chances of success. A
should look for other opportunities. An had published a paper in Nature in 1964 second grant allowed him to expand the
advert for a physicist to work in radiother- showing how electron spin resonance team and, with the help of some inventive
19EFOMP NEWSLETTER
engineering from the department’s me- and John reckoned that over the 20 years and building for it. It is now named as the
chanical workshop, built what was to be that the patent ran it generated about £34 John Mallard Scottish PET Centre.
the first whole body clinical MR imager. By million of income. Without the support
employing pulse sequences repetitively, of a government body with deep pock- Despite all this activity on the medical
they were able to reduce imaging time ets, there would have been no income. imaging scene, John maintained his view
to about 20 minutes. One problem still of the importance of professional activity
remained though. All attempts to produce John’s next step was to build a second in medical physics. He set-up an MSc
3D images were spoilt by any organ mo- imager which would be located inside the course in Medical Physics in 1968 which,
tion. This meant that imaging the trunk, in hospital. However, the MRC refused to fund over 50 years later, is still running. He was
particular, proved impossible. Finally the it as it was not regarded as new research. a past President of the Institute of Physical
team came up with the solution that was to Instead, he reached an agreement with the Sciences in Medicine (IPSM), the Biolog-
prove the breakthrough that MRI needed Japanese company Asahi Chemical Com- ical Engineering Society (BES), the Inter-
– the spin-warp imaging pulse sequence. pany, who in return for providing the fund- national Organisation for Medical Physics
ing would get access to the know-how. (IOMP), the Founder Vice-President of the
Several weeks of trial imaging on team European Nuclear Medicine Society, the
members ensued until they were satis- At the same time John set up a company Founder President of the European Soci-
fied of its safety. On 26th August 1980 to manufacture the imager. However, it ety of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
the nuclear medicine consultant at Aber- was undercapitalised and they sold just and Biology, and the Founder President
deen, Dr Frank Smith, provided the first 3 machines. In comparison, Asahi sold of the International Union of Physical
patient, a gentleman with advanced can- 145 machines in Japan and Asia before and Engineering Sciences in Medicine
cer of the oesophagus. The images were selling on the technology to Siemens. I (IUPESM) and succeeded in obtaining
impressive, showing not only the known once asked John what he would do dif- its Associate Membership of the Interna-
tumours but additional ones in the spine. ferently. His advice was to get a wealthy tional Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU).
pop star to put up the money and not
John was due to make a presentation at a be lumbered with a Board of Directors He received many honours and prizes dur-
conference in Heidelberg in 5 days’ time, appointed by an Enterprise Organisation! ing his career, including the Landau Me-
so there was a rush to get everything ready. morial Plaque of the American Association
The presentation of this first clinical whole John’s vision on using ESR was not of Physicists in Medicine, the Academic
body MR imaging was unusual as the dead and imaging technology derived Enterprise Competition Prize of the British
conference was one on Nuclear Medicine. from this concept was developed in Technology Group, the Royal Society Well-
So John started his talk by announcing Aberdeen by Prof David Lurie. come Prize and Gold Medal, the George
that he wasn’t going to talk about nuclear Van Hevesey Memorial Lecture Medal, The
medicine, but the new technique of MRI. John’s interest in the use of radioisotope Royal Society Mullard award and the Gold
Not surprisingly, John recounted that the imaging had also not waned. During the Medal of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
audience was rather challenged by this! 1970s he built two single photon emission
tomography (SPECT) imagers using scan- He was awarded the OBE in the
In November John was invited to Japan, ning detectors and one using a rotating Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 1992,
where this time the audience included gamma camera, so producing medical the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen in
representatives from all the major Japa- digital tomographic images several years 2004 and the Freedom of his birthplace,
nese companies. They were keen to have before Hounsfield’s X-ray CT imager was Northampton, in 2018.
access to this new technology, but they invented. He also introduced the first com-
weren’t prepared to pay for the privilege! puter linked to a gamma camera in the UK. John was a visionary, not just about medi-
cal imaging but also on how our profession
So the issue arose as to how to proceed. In his inaugural lecture in 1965 he talked of medical physics should develop. I once
John realised that if the intellectual prop- about the potential of Positron Emission asked him whether, if he had his time again,
erty was to be protected then a patent Tomography (PET). In 1976, following would he still go into medical physics. He
would need to be taken out before any- a public appeal, he bought a site for a said yes, but he felt that the future would
thing was published. After some debate, PET centre. He successfully obtained a be in radiotherapy rather than imaging.
the team agreed. Fortunately, the UK gov- second-hand cyclotron from the MRC,
ernment had an agency that had been set once they had finished using it for neutron With his passing, have we come to
up to develop intellectual property and therapy trials in Edinburgh, and shipped it the end of an era? I am sure that John
they prepared the patents. Having a pat- up to Aberdeen. He also obtained a sec- would have disagreed. Those of us who
ent is one thing, getting companies to re- ond-hand PET imager from the MRC PET have now retired can dream, but for the
spect it is quite another. Almost inevitably unit at the Hammersmith hospital. So, he younger ones – follow John’s example
the big medical device companies tried set up the second PET centre in the UK, and be a determined visionary!
to break the patent. The ensuing court on a shoe-string! When I took over from
case ran up costs of £1.5 million pounds, John on his retirement in 1992, I managed Peter Sharp, Emeritus Professor of
though fortunately this was carried by the to obtain a new cyclotron and imager and Medical Physics at the University of
government agency. We won the case persuaded the hospital to give me a site Aberdeen, UK.
20You can also read
